impossible shoota

Best Independent Games for your Windows Phones

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Jun 1, 2012 at 9:26 am

Windows Phone Central's round-up of the best independent games

Well.... we've taken a look at the best camera apps, best must have games, best must have apps, best free games and best weather apps for your Windows Phones. Now we turn our sights the independent game developer for the Windows Phone platform.

They make code from their basement office or from a start-up company but some of these games can give the larger software companies (EA, Microsoft, etc.) a run for their money. We've rounded up a handful of games from the Marketplace's independent developers that we have found to be entertaining, fun, well presented and a worthy addition to anyone's Windows Phone gaming library.

Pinball League: The Juggler, Impossible Shoota & Krashlander games get updates [Mango]

Games

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Sep 22, 2011 at 11:23 am

Probably one of the more understated performance improvements in Mango is the ability for devs to create games past the 30FPS mark, hitting 60FPS instead. And while it's far from revolutionary in the mobile space, the amount of realism and smoothness the change offers is quite impressive.

So far we've seen numerous Xbox LIVE games get this update, which also brings fast-app resume but we haven't seen too much in the way of indie games. Today, Pinkball League: The Juggler (see review), pretty much the only pinball game on Windows Phone, hit v1.4 which brings this faster refresh rate to the table. The Juggler has always been exceptionally smooth on gameplay, often looking unusual compared other games. Now with 30FPS+ increase, the gameplay is even better (not to mention the overhaul it received in v1.3). Grab v1.4 here in the Marketplace for a trial.

In addition, Impossible Shoota (see review) is also now Mango compatible with fast-app resume (we're unsure about the increased frame-rate). The game is now at v3.1 and still as fun as ever. The developer, Elbert Perez, just wrapped up re-compiling most of his 13 games for Mango, meaning we should start to see a steady stream of updates soon (we're looking at you, Nom Nom Worm). You can find Impossible Shoota here in the Marketplace as well.

Finally we have Krashlander (see review), one of the earlier games in the Marketplace getting a Mango update as well. Hitting v1.13, the game now has fast app switching and can be found here in the Marketplace.

Thanks, Mark T., for the heads up!

Windows Phone game roundup: Occassional Gamer

Games

By George Ponder, Wednesday, Aug 24, 2011 at 1:27 am

Occasional Gamer developer Elbert Perez recently released his latest Windows Phone game, Air Dagger, over at the Marketplace. Perez has released thirteen games over at the Marketplace and they all have experienced some level of success.

With thirteen titles under his belt, there's simply not enough room above the fold to list them all. So, to see Occasional Gamer's Windows Phone gaming portfolio, ease on past the break.

Impossible Shoota - Review [Video]

Apps

By George Ponder, Monday, Dec 20, 2010 at 3:32 am

We first mentioned Impossible Shoota when it first hit the Marketplace and have spent a little time with the Windows Phone 7 game. If you're looking for a fast paced, addictive, entertaining game Impossible Shoota will fit the bill.

The story line has you in the role of the elite pilot Starboxer. Your are the last survivor of your race and on your last mission to take out as many Sho-dan (the bad guys) ships as possible. And they throw a lot of ships your way.

Follow the break to read more on Impossible Shoota and to catch a video of the Windows Phone game in action.

Impossible Shoota developer re-releases Scribble Defense and Zombidemix for free

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Dec 16, 2010 at 10:53 am

As developers learn the intricacies of what sells and what does not with the Marketplace, they will adapt. Such a case presents itself with the developer of Impossible Shoota (see hands on), which has been downloaded 21,000 times already, making it one of the most popular apps out there (#6 in games). One of its secrets is that it is free.

Much like on Android and the iPhone, free apps that are ad supported tend to do the best. In response, Elbert Perez who makes Impossible Shoota, has made his other two games free too since they have not been doing nearly as well when selling for $0.99. Because the Marketplace doesn't yet allow developers to go from a paid app to free, he has to re-release them with a "+" at the end so "Scribble Defense+" and Zombiedmix+" are the new names. Later, these games along with Impossible Shoota are expected to gain ads through Microsoft's new XNA-supported ad system. Perez is hoping this works for him and us noting:

Hopefully this will be a successful business model for me because it benefits me and everyone out there looking for a quality game for free.

Even Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds have gone free with their Android version and it has been a huge success for them. Could free and ad supported be the secret developers need for success? We think so.

Download Scribble Defense+ here and Zombiedmix+ here. Videos after the break of both games.

Source: OccasionalGamer

Impossible Shoota & Decimation X2 - Two great retro arcade games for WP7

By Daniel Rubino, Friday, Dec 10, 2010 at 4:25 pm

There are plenty of great Xbox Live games in the Marketplace but there are way more indie games to be found and here are two that rise to the top.

Impossible Shoota is actually one of the top games in the Marketplace, sitting at number nine for free games and it has had over 13,000 downloads since its release just under a month ago. It's a classic ship bullet game with simple controls, great effects and some rocking sounds. A new update was just released which includes leaderboards and some bug fixes. Cost = free, so there is zero reason not to try this game if you want some quick arcade style fun.

The second is less known, which is a shame because it's pretty amazing. Called Decimation X2 by Xona Games, it's basically Space Invaders on steroids. With huge explosion effects, rapid fire game play and fantastic music, it's tons of fun. Plus, the company has Decimation X and the brand new Decimation X3 for the Xbox 360--those latter games are in the top five in Japan and we can see why after playing X2. The cost is $0.99 which we think is worth it and there is a try-before-you-buy. (Correction: Xona Games is based in Canada & X2 doesn't have bosses, just X3; they're also working on a small update to increase the finger bar size for easier usage)

But hey, just watch the video to see them in action. Grab Impossible Shoota here and Decimation X2 here.